Out Of The Dust Sparknotes

Out of the Dust takes place in Oklahoma in 1934-1935. During this time, the Dust Bowl is raging through the plains, and everything is covered in dust. Billie Jo and her family live in Oklahoma. Her father, Bayard, is a farmer and her mother, Polly, is pregnant with her younger brother. Billie Jo and her mother love playing the piano and are both very good. The whole family is suffering from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The farm is failing. Polly has apple trees on their farm, which she loves very dearly. They are the only thing that is still growing in the drought. One day, Bayard sets a bucket of kerosene in the kitchen and Polly mistakes it for water and starts cooking with it. A fire starts and Polly runs to get water. Billie Jo tries to run out and throw the bucket, but it goes all over her mother. Polly is badly burned and Billie Jo's hands are severely burned. A couple weeks later, while

Billie Joe tries to continue playing the piano, but it usually ends in excruciating pain. Bayard has begun to develop dots on his skin. Billie Jo suspects that it is cancer, just like the kind that killed his father. Bayard, however, will not go to the doctor. Mad Dog is moving away to pursue his singing career. Billy Jo is slightly jealous of him because she can no longer pursue hers. Finally, the biggest dust storm ever hits, Black Sunday. This is the turning point. Billie Jo is in so much pain, physically and emotionally, that she runs away. She is afraid that the crops will never grow again. After she is gone for a few days, she realizes what she has done is wrong to her father. When she returns home, she finds that there is a new woman living in the house. Her name is Louise. They both fall in love and things begin looking up. The rain comes back and grass is starting to grow. The dust is starting to disappear and everything is looking better for Billie